The french Revolution

The french Revolution  (1789-1799) was the revolt of the French people against royal despotism and class privilege. "Liberty, Equality,Fraternity" was the motto of the Revolution.The French society was divided into three orders, or Estates, which were legally defined groupings. The clergy constituted the First Estate, the nobility the Second Estate, and everyone else the Third Estate. The clergy and nobility, enjoyed special privileges, receiving pensions and profitable positions from the king. The social structure of the Old Regime, based on privileges and inequalities sanctioned by law, which leads to the discrimination in the society and that  leads to the Revolution.

The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789.The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French Revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens.The ideas of 'la patrie' (the fatherland) and 'le citoyen' (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution. A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard. The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly. New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation. A centralized administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted. Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation